


For Diane

by BettyHT



Category: Bonanza
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 05:19:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16382156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BettyHT/pseuds/BettyHT
Summary: A broken plate and a dropped plate lead to lessons learned





	For Diane

For Diane

"What in tarnation is going on here? I didn't raise my sons to be savages. There is no excuse for damaging property like this. What happened here?"

With hands on hips and his brows lowered, Ben Cartwright stood at the end of his dining room surveying his oldest and youngest sons squared off against each other. Adam's fury was evident with his chest still heaving from having chased his younger brother to the dining room and having knocked the plate out of Little Joe's hands that he had used to try to dissuade his brother from hitting him. It had been that last action that Ben had witnessed as he entered his home. Standing only a few feet from Adam, Little Joe was less winded having mainly dodged his brother and thrown things. He stood there wary of his older brother's anger but reasonably confident that Adam would no longer do anything now that their father was present. He was correct on that count. Nor would Adam respond to his father's demand because it meant repeating what had caused his anger to erupt. Instead, he turned and left the house despite his father's demands that he stay and answer for his actions.

"Do not walk away from me, boy! I'm still your father and I have a right to know how you thought you could destroy one of your mother's plates like that." His anger grew when Adam not only refused to halt but didn't even acknowledge his command.

Suddenly Little Joe realized the significance too of what had happened. However instead of blaming himself for pulling up the plate from the table to use for defense or for accepting responsibility for starting the altercation in the first place with the things he had said, he got angry with Adam. "Yeah, he smashed one of my Mama's plates. What are you going to do to him for that, Pa? He really ought to get a good tanning for that, shouldn't he?"

"Joseph, I can't do that however much I would like to do exactly that sometimes. He's twenty-three years old." Frustrated by his inability to deal with Adam, Ben turned his attention to his youngest, eleven-year-old Little Joe who held the keys to what had happened. "Now, what made Adam so angry with you that he would do that?"

"Oh, you know how he gets so mad when I tease him. I was teasing him, and he lost his temper again. He really ought to do something about that temper of his, don't you think, Pa?"

"Yes, I suppose he does, but you could do well not to tease your brother knowing how angry that makes him. Now, don't you have chores to do?"

"I thought I would wait until Adam left before I went outside to do them."

Nodding with the wisdom of that, Ben moved to his desk to work. "Get a broom from Hop Sing and clean up that mess." It was only minutes later that he heard Adam ride out on his new horse. He reminded Little Joe then to go do his chores. A short time after that, Hop Sing stood next to him holding a plate. Ben looked up expectantly wondering why he was there with an empty white plate when Hop Sing dropped the plate letting it shatter into many pieces.

"Hop Sing, why did you do that?"

"Yes, you ask why. That show respect for Hop Sing. It good question, but you not ask son that question. You only challenge him. You need to ask why. Number one son know something that number three son need yet to learn. You need to find that answer too." Hop Sing turned then and walked to the kitchen having done all he could to prod the father into doing what needed to be done.

After a moment's reflection over what had happened earlier, Ben grabbed his hat and gunbelt and headed to the stable to saddle up Buck. Little Joe asked where he was going and got worried when he said he was going to go talk with Adam about that morning.

"Pa, maybe we need to talk about that too."

"Maybe we do need to talk about that too, but we'll do that when I get back. You can think about what you're going to say while I'm gone."

With that, Ben rode out. He found Adam hard at work a short time later. Working hard at pulling brush from a ravine to clear a waterway, Adam didn't acknowledge his father's arrival. "I suppose I deserve that snub. I am sorry about my reaction earlier and about how I addressed you. I would like to start over. Would you please tell me why that happened earlier with your little brother? I'm afraid that his version of events left out important information."

Looking down at the ground, it was clear that Adam didn't want to talk about it. Somehow Ben knew that whatever had been said embarrassed him or made him uncomfortable.

"Whatever is said here will not be repeated by me to anyone without your permission."

Ben's intuition on that was correct, and it opened the door for Adam to talk.

"I'm seeing a girl in town. I really like her. She's fun, cute, and she's smart. Her name is Diane. When I'm with her, I smile. She's very nice and she's a respectable girl." Adam then repeated the things that Little Joe had said. "Pa, you always taught us to be respectful of women. He wasn't and I wasn't going to listen to him say any more of that. You came in right then. I am sorry about the plate, but I was so upset, I wasn't thinking about the plate."

"Son, I can understand that. When I get home, your younger brother won't be thinking about that either. You can be assured that he will not be saying anything disrespectful about women again. That lesson is going to be driven home forcefully if you know what I mean."

"Yes, Pa, I remember those lessons of yours. And Pa, thank you."

"And I have to go thank Hop Sing too. He and a dropped plate taught me a bit about being a father today too."


End file.
